Nurse, Come You Here! is the sequel to Mary J. MacLeod's delightful memoir, Call the Nurse. The sequel picks up right where Call the Nurse leaves off, and many of the characters will be familiar, at least to the reader who hasn't allowed too much time to pass between reading them.
One of the primary differences is that, while the first book truly centered around MacLeod's work as a district nurse, Nurse, Come Your Here! takes a broader perspective, with many of the chapters describing island life and happenings that don't have a direct connection to nursing. (Of these, the story of Louis the Sheep was probably my favorite.) While the language is unchanged, the sequel also doesn't quite capture the essence of the islands in the way MacLeod's first memoir does, perhaps because that book is so focused on the ways and events that make the Hebrides the Hebrides.
I was admittedly surprised when, with a few chapters to go, the MacLeods packed up and moved to California. In the U.S., the nurse did not nurse, and so these chapters are devoted to her musings on life in the U.S., particularly on the West Coast, as well as similarities and differences between the Americans and the Brits. It was a startling transition for this reader and would have made for a better epilogue, I felt.
Although I preferred Call the Nurse, this second memoir is also highly readable.
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